1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port and, more specifically, to an image forming apparatus preventing any damage to or erroneous disconnection of a USB wireless LAN adaptor connected thereto and allowing easy visual confirmation of state of communication of the USB wireless LAN adaptor.
2. Description of the Background Art
As one type of image processing apparatuses as electronic equipment, an image forming apparatus (typically a copy machine) for forming an image on a sheet of recording paper has been introduced to many places of business (companies and offices). In such a place of business, it is a common practice to have an image forming apparatus having a printer function and copy function connected to a network and to share the apparatus by a plurality of users. An MFP (MultiFunction Peripheral) as one type of such image forming apparatuses has a plurality of basic operational modes including a copy mode, a facsimile mode (hereinafter facsimile will be also denoted as FAX), a network compatible printer mode and a scanner mode.
As an interface for connection to a network, the image forming apparatus has, for example, an NIC (Network Interface Card). NIC has a terminal to which a communication cable such as a UTP (Unshielded Twist Pair) cable is connected. Thus, the image forming apparatus is connected to a network. When connected to the network, the image forming apparatus can realize the function of receiving and printing image data from a terminal such as a PC connected to the network, the function of transmitting image data obtained by scanning a document attached to an electronic mail, and the function of FTP-transferring image data to a computer server or the like.
Recently, an environment favorable for wireless network has been developed, since it eliminates the necessity of wiring and enables easy installation of equipment. By way of example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-193597 (hereinafter referred to as '597 Reference) discloses a note type personal computer (PC) allowing attachment of a wireless LAN card for PC on its side surface. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-174527 (hereinafter referred to as '527 Reference) discloses a mobile PC having a flexible antenna for wireless communication arranged at an upper left portion of a display screen.
As a device for wireless connection, a small USB adaptor for wireless LAN in accordance with international standard specification such as IEEE802.11 series (hereinafter referred to as USB wireless LAN adaptor) has come to be widely used. A PC or other device having the USB wireless LAN adaptor attached thereto is connectable to a router or to an access point using radio wave in a frequency band of, for example, 2.4 GHz. Further, mutual connectivity between different manufacturers of wireless LAN devices has come to be certified through Wi-Fi, promoting broader use of wireless network connections.
A USB port of a PC or the like is used for connecting various peripheral devices in addition to the wireless LAN adaptor. A USB memory is widely used as a peripheral device allowing USB connection. A USB memory has large capacity, small size and light weight and hence it is highly portable and, in addition, its handling is easy. Therefore, it is used for moving data of large size such as image data to another device.
An image forming apparatus provided with one or more USB ports has been known. In an image forming apparatus having a plurality of USB ports, a USB wireless LAN adaptor is connected to one USB port, so that the apparatus is connected to a network in wireless manner. It is possible for the user to insert a UBS memory to another USB port of the image forming apparatus. The user can input image data to be printed stored in the USB memory to the image forming apparatus, or make a scanned document data stored in the USB memory to be moved to another device.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2009-217480 (hereinafter referred to as '480 Reference) discloses a system including a USB memory with USB communication interface, having a radio communication function, connected to a PC. When the USB memory with USB communication interface is inserted to the PC, a printer driver and a monitoring tool are installed to the PC in accordance with introduction setting information stored in the USB memory. When a print request is issued by the PC, image data formed by the printer driver is once stored in a storage area of the USB memory with USB communication interface, and thereafter, transmitted in wireless manner to the USB communication interface provided on a printer.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-191165 (hereinafter Referred to as '165 Reference) discloses an image forming apparatus having an electrical component box containing a circuit board for processing signals from wireless LAN, telephone line and a computer, arranged on a side opposite to an operation unit, with an image forming unit positioned in-between. One surface of the electrical component box serves as an interface surface, on which connectors for connection to LAN, USB and telephone line, or connectors for inserting memory card such as an SD card and CF card are arranged. On the left side surface of image forming apparatus, there is a space X, which is continuous to the front surface, to facilitate connection to the connector or connectors on the interface surface from the front side. Therefore, the LAN terminal and the like connected to the interface surface can be visually recognized through the space X, from the front side of image forming apparatus.
When the USB wireless LAN adaptor is connected to a USB port on the front surface of image forming apparatus, the USB wireless LAN adaptor can easily be pulled out. Therefore, it is possible that the user erroneously pulls out the USB wireless LAN adaptor. In that case, communication will be disconnected. Further, since the user operates the image forming apparatus while standing in front of the image forming apparatus, it is possible that the user's body touches or bumps against the USB wireless LAN adaptor and damages the USB wireless LAN adaptor. Further, it is also possible that a user or other person may touch the USB wireless LAN adaptor and damages the USB wireless LAN adaptor when he/she passes in front of the image forming apparatus. The trouble is that, in the conventional image forming apparatus, a USB device such as the USB wireless LAN adaptor is connected to a USB port from which anyone can easily pull out the inserted USB device, and the device is used in such a state, as described above. This problem cannot be solved by any of '597, '527, '480 and '165 References described above.